Two Months in Pakistan

The military comes under the president at the moment so . . . that would depend on the level of cooperation the president was willing to extend in this regard. As for co-opting the people . . . the tribal areas are living in the medieval age: There's no police system, there's no court system, no appeal. They're at the mercy of the tribal chiefs who are the heads of the clans. . . . We'd like to give a council to those who respect our constitution -- with a budget to decide for themselves how to spend the money. We want to give them a stake in the area. We think there should be reform of the madrassas. . . . If we bring the modern age into this backward area, we can co-opt the local people in confronting the forces of terrorism.

What happened to your talks with Musharraf?

Talking to him was easy, [but] . . . the crux was fair elections.

He was supposed to lift the ban and allow you to become prime minister for a third time? Didn't he assure the Americans he would do that?

That the Americans can answer.

When you came back did you fear assassination?

They [warned] me, but I thought they were trying to frighten me off. The militants had tried to kill me in the past, but I couldn't believe they would try it in front of all the cameras. Even now, think how bad it was.

There were two bomb blasts, 45 seconds apart. One of them we suspect was using a human baby. A man was right in front of my truck, trying to pass a baby to me. When I told the people to make way for him, he passed the baby to someone else. . . . 179 total dead.

What happens if the election is rigged?

It all depends on how much they can manipulate the numbers. If the judicial and police staff refuse to rig the elections for them or if the observers can mitigate against the rigging, the ruling party is going to lose badly. . . .

I can't speak for Musharraf, but my assessment is that they would like to have the ruling party win but take a prime minister from the [Pakistan People's Party, which Bhutto leads]. The PPP will not buy into it. They would like to say we had an election, and now we've got a legitimate government and we have got the country's most popular party on board.

Do you think he'll [lift the ban on you serving a third term as prime minister]?